David West

David West isn't the kind of musician to be satisfied with being in one band at a time or focusing on playing one kind of music only. Over a long and varied career, the voracious Australian singer/songwriter/guitarist has tried enough different flavors to stock an ice cream parlor. He's tackled icy electronic cabaret as Liberation, breezy indie pop with <a href="spotify:artist:0MRHpgdSUMHpvQOEvD0yMo">Rat Columns</a>, art-damaged indie rock as a member of <a href="spotify:artist:5vjPLkDLdB76i8EO1PFOT6">Total Control</a>, and under his own name, records that veer from crunchy glam-influenced rock to off-kilter synth pop. On 2022's Jolly in the Bush, he adds a new wrinkle with gentle acoustic guitar-led ballads. No matter the sound or format, he's proven equal to the challenge, thanks to his unerring knack for a catchy song, just-so arrangement skills, and deadpan vocals.

West started making music in his hometown of Perth in the mid-'90s, recording lo-fi songs in his bedroom. His first notable band was the hardcore act Burning Sensations, then while spending time in San Francisco in the late 2000s he played in the angular post-punk group <a href="spotify:artist:5iSGUGT2i24NyI0heviOQs">Rank/Xerox</a>. At the same time, he was a member of <a href="spotify:artist:5vjPLkDLdB76i8EO1PFOT6">Total Control</a>, a noise rock supergroup of sorts featuring <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Mikey Young</a> that released the excellent Typical System album. He also started the breezy indie pop group <a href="spotify:artist:0MRHpgdSUMHpvQOEvD0yMo">Rat Columns</a> and issued an album with them titled Leaf in 2013 and with <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a>, he formed the electro-pop band <a href="spotify:artist:4j09ESFbTVflGGIU9l9IJ1">Lace Curtains</a>, who released music on the Mexican Summer label. As if that wasn't enough, he'd been recording songs by himself all along, and in 2013 released the Drop Out of Collage cassette, which compiled a variety of songs made between 1996 and 2014. Yet another stylistic shift came with West's solo project Liberation, which was inspired by the classic synth pop sounds of early <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Mute%22">Mute</a> records, among others. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Night+School+Records%22">Night School Records</a> released the project's self-titled debut in early 2016. That same year, West finished work on his first official solo album, the almost straightforwardly poppy Peace or Love, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tough+Love+Records%22">Tough Love Records</a>.

After taking a quick break from flooding the market with albums, West returned with another <a href="spotify:artist:0MRHpgdSUMHpvQOEvD0yMo">Rat Columns</a> record, Candle Power, which was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Upset+the+Rhythm%22">Upset the Rhythm</a> in March 2017. By the time that was out, West had already recorded the next album to be issued under his own name. Working with a backing band named Teardrops that consisted of a loose-knit group of friends, including Louis Hooper of <a href="spotify:artist:0MRHpgdSUMHpvQOEvD0yMo">Rat Columns</a>, Raven Mahon of <a href="spotify:artist:5mUHvPTMAx9FxhO0z4KGS6">Grass Widow</a>, drummer Griffin Harrison, Bob Jones of Eaters, and his most frequent musical collaborator, <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Mikey Young</a>, the album was recorded quickly and spontaneously in West's New York practice space, a rehearsal room in Glasgow, and a studio in Western Australia. Cherry on Willow was mixed by West and <a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a>, and released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tough+Love%22">Tough Love</a> in late 2017. He had also been working with Jones on instrumental synth music under the name Scythe; they issued two records, Dun Werk in 2019 and Machines Werk in 2020. In addition, West spent time over the years working with Daniel Newell under the name Dark Passage; an EP of their synth pop tunes titled 2014-2019 was released in late 2020.

Pivoting back to his solo career, West teamed up with a familiar cast of characters (<a href="spotify:artist:2oeu1S18kSQkVZC7lqCl3M">Young</a>, Hooper, Jones) and new face Richard Ingham of Taco Leg for a set of songs that covered usual areas like jangly indie pop, chilly synth pop, and crunchy indie rock. He also took an artistic left turn on a couple of soft acoustic guitar-led ballads, showing he still had a few surprises left to dole out. Jolly in the Bush was released in March 2022 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Tough+Love%22">Tough Love</a>. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi